The Nerd and the Jock (1st bk of Nerd Series)

Chapter 20- Blake

I walked the kids up to their apartment, worried. I hadn't been able to focus all the whole day because I had been worried and wondered what they had said to Bailey and if everything was in order from the house and to the kids.

It had been so bad that I hadn't played the football game that night because I knew that if I did, then my team would have lost, and thankfully, they hadn't. But I had disappointed in some scouts looking to sign me a deal, but I didn't care. I had done what was best for the team.

"Bailey?" Ryan asked, opening the door to the apartment. "We're home. Where are you?"

All of us piled in, and I closed the door while we waited for her answer.

"Your bedroom," Bailey replied. She walked out of the room, folding a t-shirt. "How did today go?"

"Good," Ryan said. He shrugged his shoulders. "Blake didn't play in the football game tonight, though."

She looked at me curiously. "He didn't?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "And why not?"

"Because he was worried about you," Mimi replied, and Bailey looked at her. "Can you feel? The love TONIGHT!" she sang horribly, skipping to the living room. "The peace the evening briiiiiinnnngggg."

"Ok, enough singing," Ryan said, interrupting her. He scowled when she turned to look at him and scowled. "What do you mean by that?"

"There's magic in the air," Mimi replied, doing jazz hands. She grinned, and her brother scowled. "Love is where they are."

"Stop quoting The Lion King," Ryan retorted. "What are you talking about?"

Mimi shook her head and smirked. "Not telling," she replied. "They don't even know it yet."

"Who doesn't?" Bailey asked, amused. She raised an eyebrow and studied her "daughter" with something in her eyes that I couldn't describe. "Who doesn't know that they are in love?"

Mimi looked between the two of us before she looked at Bailey. "My lips are sealed," she replied. "Now, if you ex-cuse me, I am going to get ready for bed like a good girl." And with that, she left humming Can You Feel The Love Tonight.

"We all should probably get ready for bed. I think that Blake and Sky are staying over?" River looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

"It's Bailey who you should be asking," I said. "This is her house." I looked at her and gave her a quizzical look, wondering if she would be fine with us staying over.

"It's fine," Bailey said with a chuckle. She looked at me and offered me a hesitant smile before she looked at the remaining kids, staring at her and waiting for something. "Go get ready for bed, you four. We have a long day tomorrow."

"Does that mean we are moving?" Ryan asked. "Is everything situated?" Excitement filled his eyes, and I could tell that he was curious. He was curious as to what had happened, and I was curious as well.

Bailey smiled and nodded her head. "Yes," she said. "Everything is settled and situated. I have you four and the house under my name. We don't have to live here any longer."

***

"Will you need help moving?" I asked, sitting in Bailey's desk chair. I watched while she packed up her clothes, entranced by her rhythmic hands while she folded a piece of shirt.

Bailey nodded her head. "We're not moving the furniture," she said. She placed the shirt in her suitcase and looked at me. "We don't need to do that because there is already furniture there." She pursed her lips and dipped her head. "I think that there are multiple dressers so that the kids can have their own, but I am not sure."

I nodded. "If there aren't?"

"Then I will hire a moving company and get the three out of here. As well as the beds."

"Do you think that there are enough beds and dressers?"

She nodded.

"Why?"

"Because my parents loved having guests over. They loved to entertain people and have them spend the night." She shrugged. "They were used to having a lot of people in the house."

I furrowed my brows in confusion. "I thought your parents were only children." I didn't remember her saying anything about her aunts and uncles.

She shook her head. "My dad has three brothers and two sisters, and my mom has three sisters and two brothers." She shrugged. "They all skipped town as soon as they could, including my grandparents from both sides."

"Why didn't you live with one of them?"

She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "What? You don't want to see my pretty face?" she teased.

I rolled my eyes and scowled; she chuckled. "Very funny. That is not what I meant, and you know it." I gave her a pointed look, and she grinned innocently. A smile appeared on my face while I watched her dip her head and placed the folded shirt in her hands in her bag.

"My dad had asked Uncle Dalton if he would look after me. He wanted to keep me here for some reason." She shrugged again and grimaced. "I think they knew that they were going to get killed," she mused.

"Why do you say that?" I asked, and she shook her head.

"Because they had set up things the months leading up to their death, like what to do with me, this apartment, and what to do with the money they had acquired over the years, making sure to leave it untouched."

"But there is no way to know who murdered them. Is there?"

"No," she mused. She sighed and shook her head. "There is no way to know who had killed them. Unless..." She shook her head again and cleared her throat.

"Unless what?" I pressed gently, hoping that she would tell me.

Bay smiled sadly and shook her head. "It's nothing," she said. "Don't worry about it."

And with that, she folded the rest of her clothes and placed them in her suitcase in silence.